Monday!

Christmas is a time when you get homesick - even when you're home. ~Carol Nelson

It's MONDAY!!! After a very long weekend, during which I barely left the house because of the weather (I do my very best to NOT drive in snow) I'm celebrating the return to normalcy (or what passes for normal in my house).

I still haven't even started my Christmas shopping. I'm a bad, bad wife-mother-sister-daughter-niece-aunt-friend -- I have a list (I've even checked it twice *g*), but I haven't gotten my butt in gear and done the shopping. The worst part? I plan on doing 90% off it online!! I don't even have to leave this chair. Sheesh.

I will (I WILL) get it done today. Dang it.

How about you? Christmas shopping? Do you do it? Have you done it? Any hints?

I have one hint: Instead of shipping via the post office (where the lines are already insane), use your local UPS store. I had to mail something out the other day -- I had one thing going UPS cuz it was cheaper (the heavy stuff? SO much cheaper via UPS Ground than USPS, just saying), and saw that they ship via regular mail, too. They add a tiny surcharge for the service, but IMHO walking in and getting helped ASAP as opposed to waiting behind 10 - 15 people with piles of packages was worth it. I don't know if your UPS store is this "un-busy", but you should check it out.

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After much agony and see-sawing back and forth, I decided to tell DD about Santa. She cried for a minute (childhood lost... it broke my heart a bit) and then her sense of magic took over. I told her that we, as older people, were charged with keeping the spirit of Santa alive, and to keep Christmas magical for children. She's totally into "magical" and is so excited now. She did pepper me with questions:

"What about the letters to Santa? Where do they go?"

"Who eats the cookies?" -- this one still has her baffled, because I told her I didn't eat them ... I didn't! DH did, but for some reason that answer hasn't occurred to her yet.

And lots more, but all-in-all, it went better than I thought. It hasn't translated over to the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy yet. We'll see if it clicks in her brain at some point in the future.

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You Are Brie

You are sophisticated and elegant. You know how to carry yourself well. And while you make a great entrance, you don't make a lot of fuss. You are really quite laid back and mellow. You don't have a care in the world, and you're not going to get worked up about anything. You are a natural romantic, and you have a tendency to day dream. You find it easy to go to your "happy place."

What Kind of Cheese Are You?

Uh.. no. *Maybe* the "You are a natural romantic, and you have a tendency to day dream", but the rest? So wrong...

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Santa Wishes

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. ~Dr. Seuss

My DD told me about three weeks ago that all she wanted from Santa this year was a good yo-yo.

Yes, folks, you heard right. None of this angst over trying to find a Wii or other fancy-schmancy electronic toy. In fact, my DD has no desire for a gaming system at all.

A yo-yo.

I was thrilled. How simple is THAT? And so, last Friday following a mammogram (woo! not...) I took some extra time for shopping. I started at WalMart, KMart and Target. Surely they would have something as common as a yo-yo.

Nope.

Okay, time to pull out the big guns. I went to Toys 'R Us, being a brave person and willing to fight the insane crowds. However, also being a smart person, I stopped just inside the door and went to customer service.

Apparently yo-yo's are not them. They had none. Sold out.

I know! I'd try Sports Authority! I pulled out of the parking lot and climbed the hill toward the main drag to get to SA. Unfortunately, THE MALL was between me and SA. The traffic was horrendous, backed up forever. I was on top of a hill looking at the road. As far as I could see? Cars... unmoving cars.

I love my DD, but I just wasn't going to tackle that mess. I'd just go home and order one online. It was ten days 'til Christmas. That would be enough time.

My DH had sent me some links to yo-yo's at various yo-yo stores online. Every single one he sent was out of stock.

Who knew yo-yo's were so popular? I mean--have YOU seen a kid playing with a yo-yo lately? I haven't.

Finally, I researched what different shaped yo-yo's did, what different kinds of axles, different string, different materials meant for yo-yo use. And I found a site that carried them.

I bought three.

I paid extra for priority shipping.

Dear heavens, I hope they get here on time.

Yo-yo's. More difficult to find than the Wii.

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Worked a bit on "Kitchen Matches" yesterday. Decided to try my hand at something that *might* work at Harlequin American (maybe the "Romance" line, but probably "American", because I love to build a fun secondary cast and Romance doesn't really lend itself to a community of charaters).

My main character is named Sunny (it's really her nickname, but she's gone by it her entire life). She's a former cheerleader and wanna-be-but-failed country singing star... and I need a last name for her. I tried on several yesterday but don't like any of them. I even thought about Bono, LOL...

So, I'm working on hammering out a decent plot and a strong hero, lots of conflict and a cast of characters for my fictional town of Fair Play. The basic idea came from a short story I wrote a couple years ago for a writing prompt that I called "The Hammer". My writing group said it wouldn't fly for publication -- it didn't have a real conflict -- but I liked the general set up and the H/H. So, I kept it in my old files and now think I'm ready to tackle it again.

My big project for 2008.

I also want to finish my secret baby cowboy mystery. And "Camilla". Maybe polish "Playing House", though the more I mess with it, the more I think it may never see the light of day despite my deep affection for Tish and Derek.

Another short story or two -- set in the thirties and forties. Man, I love that time period.

Hmmm... I think I've got most of my goals for next year. Cool. I'll make 'em official next week.

What about you? What are you hoping to accomplish in 2008?

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I hit "random quiz" at Blogthings and this is what I got (and, yes, it made my head hurt this early in the morning.... but apparently, I did okay!):

You Are Incredibly Logical

Move over Spock - you're the new master of logic You think rationally, clearly, and quickly. A seasoned problem solver, your mind is like a computer!

How Logical Are You?

LOL...